Mihăiță Bamburic

Mozilla is moving forward with the Firefox OS plans, even though odds are not in its favor. The open-source organization released a prototype simulator for the in-house operating system, which gives a glimpse of what potential customers should expect. All the action happens in a small Firefox window.

Mozilla did not release a standalone application, but instead the Firefox OS is available as an extension for the popular open-source browser. Firing up the new operating system is done with a simple flick of the Simulator toggle, and for easier control there are some keyboard shortcuts assigned to physical button operations. Users can experiment with Firefox OS straight from the lockscreen, so let's take a peek.

The lockscreen looks similar to earlier versions of Android. There is the typical slider to open camera or unlock the phone on top of the date and time. The interface is pretty basic in the camera department, but this is just a glimpse in the stable Firefox OS.

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No, there is no "I" missing from the end of the headline. More than a week ago a leaked Android 4.1 Jelly Bean ROM surfaced for the Samsung Galaxy Note, and now there's one for the Galaxy S II as well. So if you like jelly beans and can't wait for the official upgrade there's a way to get that quick fix.

The leaked Android 4.1 Jelly Bean ROM for the Galaxy S II is compatible only with the international model (codename "I9100"). As a result it will not work with other variations such as US carrier-specific versions. The build is dated November 6 and it is based on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, build number JZO54K (newest available). Users can expect a similar look and feel to the latest TouchWiz interation, under the hood changes thanks to Project Butter and improved voice search using Google Now.

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AOKP is one of the most popular names in the Android modding community, gathering more than 180,000 installations in the past couple of months. The team released the latest build -- Jelly Bean Milestone 1 -- two weeks ago, so let's take a look and see what all the fuss is about. Straight off the bat I have to warn that you might see some pink unicorns around. Don't worry, they don't bite unless provoked.

Before we begin I have to mention that since I installed AOKP Jelly Bean Milestone 1 (catchy name, don't you think?) Android 4.2 popped up on the horizon, which I ran shortly after. In my review of the second Jelly Bean iteration I made a number of comparisons with popular custom Android distributions, only to realize that the stock version was the least inspiring upgrade that I performed in the past couple of months. Why? I simply missed my AOKP ROM, because in so many ways it's more suited for an enthusiast like myself.

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Following the foray into Windows 8/RT territory, cloud storage service Box announced an overhauled app for Android devices today. Box for Android 2.0 delivers a number of new features such as document preview and offline folders on top of under-the-hood changes. But even though the name might suggest otherwise it is not limited to Eclair green droid users.

One of the most noteworthy features added to Box for Android 2.0 is document preview. Similar to other green robot competitors like Google Drive, it can render more than 75 types of files within the app without having to resort to third-party solutions. For working outside the grid, the updated Box can now also save folders in encrypted form for offline use on top of individual files. Outdated content will be reported after changes are performed.

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If you want to root your Android Samsung device without resorting to a custom recovery then CF-Auto-Root is the tool for you. It enables elevated privileges, while keeping things as close to stock as possible. A voided warranty is no good, so there's a tool for that, too.

The approach is similar to stock because CF-Auto-Root only installs the SuperSU binary and APK as well as the stock recovery. The first two are used to manage root access on Android, while the latter overrides any third-party recovery. Elevated privileges are basically granted after flashing the CF-Auto-Root package for the Samsung device as PDA in ODIN.

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Today the team behind the popular custom Android distribution CyanogenMod announced that the domain crisis is now contained, after previously losing control of cyanogenmod.com. But all modding affairs will now continue on the new domain cyanogenmod.org, instead of the previous digital shelter.

Apparently the problem was caused by a former member who owns cyanogenmod.com. The CM team says that he donated the domain in the early days of the project in order to support it, but recently took charge and "violated" their trust. Allegedly the former member set up deals in his personal interest under the name of the project and even impersonated Steve Kondik, the founder of CyanogenMod. The ex-member demanded $10,000 in order to restore control, which he did not receive.

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Popular cloud storage service Dropbox has surpassed 100 million users in its five years of activity. To celebrate the event, the company will give 10GB of extra storage to users that post 160-character stories about how they use Dropbox. The company will pick a hundred of its favorite ones to be declared as winners.

Apart from the publicity generated by this promotion, there is another side of the coin. Users that post their stories provide an interesting insight on how cloud storage integrates with different types of lives and professions. Obviously Dropbox is used for sharing files, right? Right. So how are people using it differently?

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A Little more than a month after CyanogenMod 10 M2 was released, the team behind the popular custom Android distribution announced the third monthly build. Like before, the focus is on stability. And since Android 4.2 was pushed to AOSP yesterday, there is some information on the future CyanogenMod 10.1 as well.

The work on CM 10 is not over just yet, even though the latest release is labeled as "stable" or "LTS" (Long Term Support). Nightly builds are still hitting supported devices and bug reports are expected to keep coming as well. But with more than 10,000 installs since yesterday, the stable version is taking off quite well.

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Android Open Source Project Technical Lead Jean-Baptiste Queru announced that Google is pushing the Android 4.2 source code to AOSP, after the company released the second Jelly Bean-branded operating system today. To complement Android 4.2 the Mountain View, Calif.-based corporation also uploaded the factory images for a number of Nexus devices.

The Android 4.2 source code will be available under the "android-4.2_r1" name, with the matching development branch named "jb-mr1-dev". Interestingly enough Queru says that the Nexus 10 is the best choice for AOSP work on the latest version of Android, which he considers the most open flagship device. But the Nexus 7 with 3G connectivity is not supported at the moment because of the GSM stack that is not yet licensed for the Android Open Source Project.

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Today Google launches Android 4.2 alongside the new Nexus lineup. Galaxy Nexus as well as Nexus 7 owners that have the ability to run apps with elevated privileges are faced with a dilemma on whether to upgrade or not. Fear not, you can still root your Nexus using the latest version of Android.

The advantages of rooting are nothing to sneeze at. I run apps with elevated privileges more than a few times a day and I had to get the root capabilities up and running after upgrading to Android 4.2. The process is fairly straightforward and should not pose any difficulty even to less experienced users. I do have to mention that this guide can apply to the Nexus 4 and 10 as well, after developers release the compatible tools.

Getting started

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Today, Google launches Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Expectations run high for the latest member of the green robot family, even though it's less of a major upgrade and more of a here-and-there improvement from its predecessor. Can it live up to the excitement?

At a first glance, the second version of Jelly Bean is just that...the second version of Jelly Bean. It looks and feels very similar to its predecessor. I'm an avid Android modder, and a new operating system has to live up to pretty high expectations. So rather than write a boring review presenting some of the things that you already know, I will also assess these changes in comparison to custom distributions such as AOKP Jelly Bean Milestone 1, and CyanogenMod 10 nightly.

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The wait is finally over! Google launches Android 4.2 Jelly Bean today alongside the new Nexus lineup with a treat in store for current Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7 owners as well. The latest version of Android is rolling out over the air (OTA) for the year-old smartphone, with a manual update available for the ASUS-made tablet as well.

The Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OTA update, build number JOP40C, is available for the Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ sold via Google Play (codename "takju"). The point oner comes in at a rather small 74.3MB and, besides the announced improvements, at a first glance the update delivers a new baseband (I9250XXLH1 from the previous I9250XXLF1) and kernel (dated November 2) as well.

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The custom recovery plays an important role in Android modding by allowing users to install new ROMs or to perform full device backups. But finding and installing the right one can be a problem, which is where RecoverX comes into play. It comes with an impressive list of supported devices.

RecoverX offers a step-by-step guided process in order to install a custom recovery. The program only requires the brand and name of the Android smartphone or tablet, and it will display a list of available options. On a Google Galaxy Nexus, RecoverX can install ClockworkMod Recovery or ClockworkMod Touch Recovery, but depending on the device Amon-Ra Recovery and/or xRecovery is available.

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Tomorrow Google will launch Android 4.2 on the Nexus 4, 7 and 10 with nifty new features such as notification panel quick settings. With similar functionality the latter can now be experienced on older versions of the popular operating system through Control Panel for Android.

Instead of adding another button in the notification panel or popping up after a two-finger swipe, Control Panel for Android delivers quick settings rather differently. The app is pinned in the notification panel and quick settings is triggered with a single tap on it. But the number of available toggles makes up for the quirky triggering method. Using Control Panel for Android users can control Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, sound, brightness, auto-rotation, screen stay or haptic feedback among other features.

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The waiting is nearly over. RIM announced today that during an event to be held on January 30, BlackBerry 10 will debut alongside two new smartphones. The operating system can't come soon enough. RIM literally bleeds market share across the planet to Androids and iPhones.

New OS features include BlackBerry Balance, Flow, Hub and Keyboard, which are optimized for the use of gestures. Balance targets corporate environments by separating work and personal data with transition between the two made using gestures. Flow eases navigation between open apps, while Hub acts as notification center for calendar events, feeds, messages and notifications.

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